Animal Man: Book One
| next = Book Two }} "Book One" is a trade paperback collection that reprints the first nine issue of the ''Animal Man'' ongoing comic book series published by DC Comics. The story was written by Grant Morrison with artwork by Chas Truog, except for the final story, which was drawn by Tom Grummett. It was inked by Doug Hazlewood with coloring by Tatjana Wood and lettering by John Costanza. The volume was edited by Michael Charles Hill and boasts an original cover illustrated by Brian Bolland. The first printing shipped in September, 1991 and carries a cover price of $19.95 per copy (US)> Synopsis "The Human Zoo" Somewhere in San Diego, a mysterious figure calling himself the Beast seems to be in some kind of pain, and is searching for the source of the sound of screaming monkeys that he hears in his head. Meanwhile, Buddy Baker, no longer content with operating as a "small-time" hero, strives to make his way into the big leagues. He begins practicing his powers by tapping into the physical characteristics of cats, birds, fish and spiders. To further promote himself, he makes an ill-advised guest appearance on the Dick Griffith Show. Griffith humiliates him on national television and Buddy decides to beef up his look by adding a leather jacket to his costume. Elsewhere, in an alleyway, the Beast is attacked by a mugger, who he kills without hesitation, before finding his way to a S.T.A.R. Labs facility, the apparent source of the sound he had been tormented by. Later, Buddy responds to an emergency at S.T.A.R. Labs. There, Doctor Myers - who had been working on a cure for the AIDS virus - tells him that he was actually hoping for Superman, but will settle for Animal Man regardless. He shows him one of the lab's animal testing facilities, which has been ransacked with broken cages and emptied medical containers all over the floor. All of the test monkeys have somehow been fused together into a gelatinous ball. "Life in the Concrete Jungle" Animal Man investigates an incident at S.T.A.R. Labs, where several test-monkeys have been fused together by someone or something. Doctor Myers explains that the perpetrator seems to have been some kind of giant cockroach. While Buddy can't help the monkeys, he offers to use his powers to absorb a dog's sense of smell, and track the creature. Buddy is, however, suspicious of Dr. Myers' methods. Elsewhere, Buddy's neighbor's cat is feeding her newborn kittens in the same location that a number of unscrupulous hunters are killing for sport. When the trail goes cold, Animal Man takes lunch on the roof of a nearby building. He is suddenly surprised by the appearance of Superman. Though he recognizes Buddy, he is called away before any real conversation can occur, and Buddy is left unsatisfied. In an alley, a mysterious figure known as the Beast uses his strange powers to fuse a rat with a nearby drunk. Buddy calls his wife Ellen excitedly, to tell her about the visit from Superman, but midway through the call he is attacked violently by a strange rat-man. Absorbing the powers of a nearby praying mantis, Buddy manages to put up a decent fight. However, the tables begin to turn, and the rat-man manages to tear Buddy's arm from his body, and as he bleeds to death, the rat and the man begin to separate. Elsewhere, Buddy's wife Ellen and their daughter Maxine head to the forest, where Maxine discovers the kittens, and Ellen ominously becomes the subject of the hunters' attention. "The Nature of the Beast" Somewhere in San Diego, the man called B'wana Beast senses the thoughts of an ape named Djuba who has been infected by a germ, and watched a companion die. He vows to save her. Elsewhere, Animal Man lies dying in an alley after his arm was torn from his torso by a rat-man hybrid. Unbidden, his powers seek out the nearest useful animal from which to absorb an ability. He senses earthworms in the ground below, and uses their abilities to regenerate a new arm and heal himself. Nearby, he finds the body of the once rat-man, who has returned to human form. Buddy calls S.T.A.R. Labs, and when they arrive, they wear Hazmat suits, and quarantine him. In the forest, Buddy's wife Ellen is cornered by some aggressive hunters. One named Ray becomes aggressive, and makes sexual advances, going so far as to grab the neighbors' cat, and feed it to his dogs. When Ellen becomes angry, he hits her with the butt of his rifle. Ellen realizes that her daughter Maxine is watching from the bushes, and screams for her to run home and get help. Meanwhile, B'wana Beat recalls his time in Africa, where his friend Ken was murdered during a civil war. But while he was taking vengeance, his companion ape Djuba was kidnapped. He had tracked her across the ocean to S.T.A.R. Labs. Animal Man arrives just in time to see B'wana Beast escaping with Djuba. Desperately, he grabs Dr. Meyers, and asks for the real story behind the animal tests going on there. Dr. Meyers reveals that the tests were not meant to find an AIDS vaccine, but rather to create a germ as part of a biological weapon. They had kidnapped Djuba because of her uniquely advanced primate physiology. Unfortunately, now that she has been taken away, the contagion is loose in San Diego. Despite the complaints of his companions, Ray becomes more aggressive with Ellen and prepares to rape her. Fortunately, Maxine returns to the forest with their neighbor Mr. Weidermeir, who aims a revolver at the attacker. Ray aims his shotgun back at Mr. Weidermeir, daring him to shoot. Suddenly, Ray's own companion, increasingly agitated by his actions, shoots him in the head. Ellen begins beating his corpse with a stick, overcome by her emotions, but she relents when she realizes that Maxine is watching. At the zoo, B'wana Beast attempts to comfort his friend Djuba. He can do nothing for her, and she dies in his arms. "When We All Lived in the Forest" At night, Buddy Baker reads a story to his daughter Maxine, but when she falls asleep, he takes the opportunity to recall the events of the day. He had researched B'wana Beast at the library, and then tracked him to the San Diego Zoo. There, he found the body of Djuba, an ape infected with a genetically altered anthrax virus. He was confronted by B'wana Beast, who attacked him, using his fusion powers to turn the zoo animals into dangerous chimeras. Unfortunately, B'wana Beast collapsed as a result of his having contracted the virus from Djuba's body. Thinking that he would die, B'wana Beast bemoaned the state of human civilization, and its mistreatment of animals and nature. Refusing to let the him die, Animal Man absorbed B'wana Beast's fusing powers to turn his white blood cells into super defenders, to fight off the virus. Animal Man had then returned to S.T.A.R. Labs where he expressed his shame at becoming involved in Dr. Myers' immoral and barbaric activities. Dr. Myers responded negatively, and Buddy was unable to restrain himself from punching the doctor. Meanwhile, at the Baker home, Ellen Baker and Maxine returned from their ordeal in the forest with several sick kittens. Their neighbor Mrs. Weidermeir attempted to help, but many died. Later, when Buddy finishes his recollections, Ellen is pleased to announce that one of the kittens would survive. Back at S.T.A.R. Labs, a recovered B'wana Beast returns with Djuba's corpse and as vengeance, fuses her body with that of the living Dr. Myers. Dr. Myers' cohorts then collect his body to be taken for testing. "The Coyote Gospel" While driving through the desert, a truck driver for the Ajax Trucking Co. picks up a hitchhiker named Carrie, who is hoping to find stardom in Los Angeles. During their journey through Death Valley, the truck runs over a bipedal coyote-man wandering in the desert who appears to come out of nowhere. Horrified by what he has seen, the truck driver refuses to stop, but unknown to the driver or Carrie as they drive away, the badly mangled coyote-man miraculously heals from his wounds. The story takes up one year later. At the Baker residence, Buddy begins throwing away all of the meat in the refrigerator. Ellen enters the kitchen and Buddy tells her that they should become vegetarians. Ellen is furious at him for making such a decision without even discussing it, leading to an argument and Buddy storming out. In the desert, the truck driver hunts the coyote-man, having discovered that he is still alive. In the time since their previous encounter, the truck driver has suffered numerous misfortunes, including the deaths of several people close to him, and has snapped upon learning that Carrie has ended up a drug-addicted prostitute who died during a drug bust. The driver has become convinced that the coyote-man is Satan and, blaming him for his recent misfortunes, is determined to 'save the world' from him. Tracking the coyote-man to his current whereabouts, the truck driver sets numerous traps; although the coyote-man is badly injured by each one, to the truck driver's increasing horror he nevertheless heals each time. Their battle culminates in the coyote-man setting off a rigged grenade which, when it explodes, critically injures both; where the coyote-man recovers from his injuries, the truck driver does not. While soaring through the air, Animal Man notices the explosion and sets down in front of the coyote-man. The coyote-man then gives him a scroll which tells of his exile from another dimension, one similar in nature to Looney Tunes-style cartoons, where he was an anthropomorphic coyote named Crafty. Along with his fellow cartoon characters, Crafty endured an eternity of suffering and violence for the amusement of their artist, presented as a cruel god-figure. One day, however, Crafty snapped and went up to 'Heaven' to challenge the artist; displeased by Crafty's presumption, the artist exiled Crafty to this reality, where he now wanders the Earth trying to find someone to help him return to his reality of origin and end the artist's cruel reign. "Birds of Prey" Thanagarian agents Rokara Soh and Skalla Kol journey towards Earth. Rokara, an artist, imbibes a fatal poison known as Hellshade. Before he dies however, he intends on detonating a lifebomb - a weapon that contains the sum total of his life experiences inside of it. Anyone caught within its blast radius will experience Rokara's entire history before dying. The warship enters Earth's atmosphere and flies over the California shoreline. Buddy Baker and Roger Denning notice it's flight path and Buddy decides to investigate. He meets Skalla Kol and begins fighting with her. Skalla is a true warrior, and begins savagely beating on Animal Man with her mace. Buddy disengages her Nth Metal wings, and the sudden absence of gravity sends her flying high into the air. Rokara meanwhile prepares to detonate his lifebomb. Animal Man tries to stop him, but his powers tap into the Thanagarian's psyche and he mentally experiences Rokara's entire life since birth. Buddy thinks that Rokara has already activated the bomb. Suddenly, Animal Man's perceptions return to normal. The bomb is inactive, and standing in front of it is Hawkman who glibly remarks, "All you had to do was switch it off." "The Death of the Red Mask" After helping to deal with the events of the invasion, Animal Man stops by Miami, where it appears that the city has been overrun by rampaging red robots. Fortunately, the robots are fairly ineffective and simply explode and walk into things. Despite this, Buddy decides to seek out the source. Buddy comes across portly man in a super-villain costume, preparing to jump from the top of a building. Buddy manages to pull him back, and he introduces himself as the Red Mask. He offers to reveal his secret origins to Animal Man. Red Mask explains that in 1945, he had touched a meteor which gave him the power of a death-touch, killing everything he laid his hands on. When his wife left him, for obvious reasons, he became a super-villain, teaming up with The Veil to commit robberies. Unfortunately, The Veil went insane as a result of his powers, and was put in Arkham Asylum, bringing an end to the careers of both. When asked why he has shared this story, Red Mask explains that he is dying, and that the robots and his imminent suicide are his last-ditch effort to go down in a blaze of glory. Buddy offers to use his connections to get Red Mask some air-time on TV, in lieu of suicide, and flies off. But, in the meantime, the Red Mask becomes impatient, and throws himself from the top of the building - finally experiencing his dream of the power of flight before hitting the concrete below. Buddy finishes off the robots and begins flying back to Los Angeles, but he is startled by something unseen. "Mirror Moves" Following the events of the invasion, Animal Man's powers aren't working properly. After recovering from a fever, he is awakened by his wife Ellen with his mail. He is pleased to find that he has finally received his membership card for the Justice League Europe. While going through his morning routine in the bathroom, Buddy is startled to see Animal Man in the mirror in front of him. The image mocks him, and then steps right through the glass, attacking him. The doppelganger then reveals his true self: Evan McCulloch, the new Mirror Master. Buddy dodges the Mirror Master's energy blasts, and dons his Animal Man costume. They continue to fight, with Mirror Master clearly holding the upper hand. He explains that Animal Man's actions - including messing up a military research program and assisting subversive animal groups - have prompted his employers to hire him to teach Buddy a lesson. He warns that he and his employers can get to Buddy and his family no matter where he is, as he steps through a mirror. Meanwhile, as Ellen returns from the grocery store, an unidentified figure watches from the shadows, saying her name. Ellen is initially angry at the damage done to the stairs in her house, but Buddy warns her off as he follows McCulloch through the mirror. Unfortunately, he finds the mirror dimension on the other side disorienting, and once again, the Mirror Master knocks him around. Mirror Master steps out of the mirror and comes face to face with an enraged Ellen. She kicks him in the testes, breaking his concentration, and allowing Animal Man to escape the mirror dimension. Mirror Master slaps Ellen across the face and she kicks him down the stairs, where an angry Animal Man tosses him out the front window. Angered, Mirror Master zaps buddy with his ray gun, turning him into a human looking-glass. The Mirror Master escapes as Buddy realizes that he assumes the form of every person he comes into contact with. Fortunately, Ellen manages to break a small mirror which returns him to normal. As she comments that the mirror will cost them seven years of bad luck, the unidentified figure watching from the shadows seems agitated. "Home Improvements" As Cliff Baker walks home, a bully named Buckley mocks him, and calls him "Animal Boy." Afterward, a mysterious figure appears behind him, uttering his name. In the Baker home, Buddy plays with the family cat, T.C. while his daughter Maxine looks on impatiently. All the while, someone is knocking on the door, and Ellen becomes increasingly frustrated. When she decides to open the door herself, the family is surprised to see the Martian Manhunter standing there. The Manhunter explains that as part of Buddy's membership in the Justice League Europe, his house will be repaired for free, after it is damaged by a super-villain (such as the Mirror Master, who had done so recently). Ellen and Buddy are pleased, but she pushes him to reveal that his powers are malfunctioning. Elsewhere, an amnesic man named James Highwater finds a mysterious message regarding the Psycho Pirate in what he believes is his apartment. Despite Buddy's condition, Martian Manhunter explains that he wants Animal Man on the Justice League because of his reverence and advocacy for animals and the earth. Manhunter suggests that Buddy see a doctor who has been helping other heroes whose powers have been affected by the Gene Bomb, and buddy promises to see him after dealing with a fox hunt in Britain. They then return home. Cliff comes home in an angry mood, and explains that he has been bullied, and that Buckley has stolen his bike. The Martian Manhunter develops a plan to get it back, in which he impersonates Cliff, and then transforms into a monster, scaring away the bullies. Somewhere in Africa, a Shaman warns that the gods are coming. Issues Appearances * Animal Man, Buddy Baker * B'wana Beast, Michael Payson Maxwell * Cliff Baker * Ellen Baker * Maxine Baker * Roger Denning * Mirror Master, Evan McCulloch * Red Mask * Veil * Blue Beetle, Ted Kord * Booster Gold, Michael Jon Carter * Captain Atom, Nathaniel Adam * Hawkman, Katar Hol * Martian Manhunter, J'onn J'onzz * Mister Miracle, Scott Free * Superman, Kal-El * Billy * Captain Triumph, Lance Gallant * Carrie * Crafty * Dick Griffith * Djuba * Doctor Myers * James Highwater * Jamie * Jos * Lester * Lew * Mike Buckley * Morris Weidemeir * Ray * Roy the dog * Rupert Kenboya * Sheba the cat * T.C. the cat * Tricia Denning * Violet Weidemeir * Justice League International * Alien Alliance * Humans * Altered humans * Apokoliptians * Martians :* Green Martians * Thanagarians * Apes :* Gorillas * Cats * Dogs * California :* San Diego :* S.T.A.R. Labs * Africa * Florida :* Miami * Thanagar * Gene Bomb * Thanagarian star cruiser Notes & Trivia * This volume is ISBN 978-1563890055 Recommended Reading * Animal Man, Volume 1 * Animal Man, Volume 2 External Links * Category:Trade paperbacks Category:1991/Comic issues Category:September, 1991/Comic issues Category:Dick Giordano/Executive editor Category:Michael Charles Hill/Editor Category:Brian Bolland/Cover artist Category:Brian Bolland/Cover inker Category:Comic issues with crew categories